Pakistan mourns death of star athlete in shipwreck

Social media users in Pakistan have expressed grief and paid tribute to the former national hockey player Shahida Raza, who died in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy last week.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) confirmed on Thursday that Raza was among the 62 people who died when a boat sank near the Italian coast on Sunday.

Raza, who had also represented Pakistan in football and martial arts, had enlisted people smugglers to get her out of the country as she sought a better future for her disabled son, her friend Summaya Kainat told the Reuters news agency.

The 27-year-old belonged to Pakistan’s minority Shia Hazara community and hailed from the southern province of Balochistan.

Hazaras have been regularly targeted by armed groups in Pakistan, pushing many to seek asylum abroad.

According to Kainat, Raza left her home on the outskirts of Quetta four months ago. She crossed Pakistan’s southwestern border into Iran and then travelled to Turkey, with the aim of eventually reaching Italy or Australia and seeking asylum there.

Kainat said her friend had opted to seek asylum because she believed refugee status was easier to obtain than a regular visa.

“She was the sole breadwinner of the family,” Kainat, who played hockey with Raza, told the Reuters news agency.

“She told me that as soon as she got a job, she would take her son Hasan away with her,” Kainat said of Raza’s three-year-old son who had a disability that left him unable to speak or move unaided.

Raza was one of two nationals that Pakistan’s foreign ministry said had died in the shipwreck. Another 17 Pakistanis were rescued, while two remain missing, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

 

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